Hong Kong protests: man pleads guilty to wounding with intent for stabbing student in 2019
- Liu Guosheng, a native of Guangxi in mainland China, was originally charged with attempted murder for stabbing a student near a Tai Po ‘Lennon Wall’ and slashing him in the neck
- He attacked the student after being confronted and scolded for tearing protest-related messages from the wall on October 19, 2019
A mainland Chinese man has pleaded guilty in a Hong Kong court to wounding with intent for slashing and stabbing a 19-year-old student who was handing out protest-related leaflets during the anti-government unrest of 2019.
The High Court heard cook Liu Guosheng, 24, attacked the student, identified only as X, after being confronted and scolded for tearing political posters from a so-called Lennon Wall – a public display of messages in support of the protests – in an underpass outside Tai Po Market MTR station on October 19, 2019.
A native of the Guangxi region, who had no prior convictions in Hong Kong, Liu was originally charged with attempted murder, but prosecutors agreed to accept his guilty plea to the lesser charge of wounding with intent. Both offences are punishable by life in prison.
Senior public prosecutor Gary Leung said the cook had grabbed the student with one hand and used the other to slash his neck with a fruit knife two or three times.
The student pushed Liu away and fled, only to find his attacker still chasing him. After running for about 50 metres, the victim tripped and fell to the ground, and Liu caught up again.